Starting tomorrow, the new Dave Matthews Band "Live Trax" CD will be exclusively available at Starbucks locations throughout North America. The CD features recordings of Dave Matthews Band performances dating back to 1995.

As part of the launch, XM and Starbucks are kicking off a promotion to support the "Live Trax" release and to introduce customers to the newly re-launched Starbucks music channel on XM, Starbucks XM Café (Ch 45).

From July 31st through August 31st, Starbucks will offer customers the chance to win tickets, passes and a meet and greet with Dave Matthews at The Hollywood Bowl on October 2nd, among other prizes. All you have to do is sign up for a free trial of XM Radio Online.

Complete details will be available online starting July 31st (pssst, that's tomorrow, so don't click the link yet).

In addition to the in-store sweepstakes, XM will air special Dave Matthews Band programming on the Starbucks XM Café channel with special episodes of the music show "The Daily Grind," highlighting songs from the new album throughout the week.

"The Daily Grind" can be heard weekdays at 3pm ET on the Starbucks XM Café channel, with encores airing weeknights at 1am.

Applied Media Technologies Corporation (AMTC) has signed on with Dunkin' Brands to provide Sirius Satellite Radio background music to Baskin-Robbins stores nationwide.

Baskin-Robbins currently operates more than 5,600 units in 40 countries.

AMTC, which provides of Sirius services to businesses, normally charges only $24.95/month for the commercial-free service (no contract required).

Baskin-Robbins was given special discounted pricing in their arrangement with AMTC. I'm sure tapping into the sheer volume of stores justified the price cut (not to mention Dunkin' Brands other endeavors... namely Dunkin' Donuts).

"The business of ice cream is nothing but fun, and our goal is to make sure customers of all ages smile," said Baskin-Robbins franchisee Jack Handy. "We are enjoying the freedom of being able to decide what kind of music we want at any given time, and we know our customers appreciate the difference a little music can make."

Baskin-Robbins will celebrate 62 years of business this year.

[Press Release] 

Sirius Canada and Pana-Pacific have extended their relationship to distribute Sirius products exclusively to truck dealerships and outlets throughout Canada. Pana-Pacific and Sirius Canada had a previous distribution agreement, but now it looks to have gone exclusive.

Pana-Pacific, a division of the The Brix Group, lays claim to being North America's largest supplier of audio and electronics equipment to the trucking industry

Another interesting claim, which comes from Pana-Pacific's President John Trenberth, is that Sirius holds over a 90% marketshare among truckers in Canada:

"With more than 90 per cent market share to-date, Sirius has been the number one choice for satellite radio among truckers in Canada," said Trenberth in a statement. "Feedback from our retail partners has been that Canadian drivers prefer Sirius on account of its superior signal coverage and programming lineup."

Statements like that must really torque XM Canada's jaw. Remember, they're not so friendly with each other up north.

Thanks Tim!

Aston Martin and Sirius Satellite Radio have hooked up to offer Sirius as a factory-installed option, with a lifetime subscription included, on select Aston Martin vehicles.

The new models of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage and DB9 vehicle lines - available in the U.S. in August - will be the first models to reap the benefits of this deal.

Up until 2007, Aston Martin was part of the Premier Automotive Group, a division of the Ford Motor Company. On March of this year, the luxury automaker was purchased by a British consortium led by David Richards of Prodrive.

Aston Martin eventually plans to offer Sirius on all models in the near future. Presumably future Sirius offerings from Aston will also include a complimentary lifetime subscription. The lifetime subscription has become a more frequent promotion from Sirius, most recently they announced that the Mini Cooper and Cooper S will be offered with a lifetime subscription.

Following in their U.S. counterpart's footsteps, Sirius Canada and Audi Canada have inked a deal to offer Sirius Satellite Radio as standard-equipment in key 2008 Audis. The deal is similar to the Sirius/Audi deal announced back in April, but the models with factory standard Sirius are slightly different.

Sirius will be available as factory standard equipment on all Canadian model year 2008 Audi S4, A6 4.2, S6, A8, S8 and Audi Q7 4.2 models. Audi Canada will also offer Sirius as factory standard equipment in the all-new R8 mid-engined sports car (pictured). 

A 3-month subscription to Sirius will be included with each vehicle.

Currently, Sirius is available only as a factory option in a large number Audi Canada vehicles including the Audi A3, the A4 sedan, Avant and Cabriolet models; the RS 4, the A6 sedan and A6 Avant; the Audi Q7 SUV; and the new TT Coupe and Roadster. Now Audi Canada is bumping up the offering with Sirius as a factory-standard equipment.

 

WorldSpace Satellite Radio (WSRP) announced that they've inked an OEM partnership with Fiat Group Automobiles, bringing satellite radio to Italy and marking the first steps for satellite radio in Europe.

Starting in late 2008, WorldSpace will begin broadcasting about 40-50 channels to Italy. Then in late 2009, Fiat Group will introduce WorldSpace as a factory-installed option in select Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia models. On top of that, Fiat Group will have the ability to offer portable satellite radios through its aftermarket channel.

In May of last year, WorldSpace received approval from the Italian Ministry of Communications to launch satellite radio services in Italy. WorldSpace delivers audio in the MPEG-4 aacPLUS v.2 codec, utilizing 12.5 MHz of the L-band frequency spectrum which is the only frequency band harmonized for satellite radio over Europe. In January of this year, WorldSpace signed an agreement with Telecom Italia to design and deploy a terrestrial repeater network throughout Italy.

WorldSpace's European strategy is to roll out its service on a country-by-country basis. The next target markets include France, Germany, Spain, the UK, Turkey and Poland.

 

All University of Georgia football games, and most of their men's and women's basketball games, will be carried on XM Satellite Radio as part of a 5-year agreement.

The UGA Athletic Association made the announcement yesterday, which is expected to give Georgia an average of $150,000 per year as part of the deal. Georgia also said that while all of its regular-season football games will air on XM this fall, at least eight will feature the call of the UGA broadcast crew of Larry Munson, Scott Howard and Loran Smith.

It's unclear whether this deal is part of, or in addition to, XM's 5-year deal with the SEC. But seeing as it was announced several months after the SEC deal, I'm willing to guess that this is a separate deal. XM also has a Georgia Bulldogs promotion running ($99 for radio + 6 months of service).

[AJC.com]
Thanks Josh!

UPDATE: After some research, it looks like this is just a duplicate, UGA-specific, announcement in advance of the football season. Blah.